Genetics - God's Sense of Humor

Why do I look more and more like my father every day? Because God has a sense of humor.

Why do my brothers and I laugh alike? Because God thinks its funny.

Being the last of eight kids, why do I always remind people of an older sibling and, thereby, have no identity of my own?

Because God knows gene pools do not have a deep ends.

And so it is. Besides marriage, I believe genetics give God a more consistent form of entertainment than anything else.

Case and point... the Koehlers.

If it weren't mean to be funny, why does my niece Kelsey look more like wife's daughter than our own daughter?

Three generations... Poppy,
Kelsey (Dawn's daughter) and Dea.

And why does my daughter look more like my sister-in-law Dawn's daughter than my daughter?

Dawn and our daughter, Dorothea.

And why does Dawn's three children look like they come from vastly different roots in the same family tree? Cause God's a kidder.

Dawn's husband, Patrick, and his
look-a-like daughter, Rachel.

Dawn's daughter Sarah Jo and
her look-a-like Grammie.

So the next time your belly looks like your parent's or your skin spots look like your grandparent's or you smile looks like the mailman, remember, it's genetics...

God's non-stop punchline.

Purgatory, USA Starts Shooting

We started shooting the first episode of Purgatory, USA this evening. Here are some screen captures from the opening scene.

DC starts off the series
by talking to the camera

Dea as Mickey

DC as Nicole

We'll post more over at the Sonlight Pictures Blog as the shooting continues.

My Son's Concerns

Since it's summer my son has been asking to stay up late each night. We've kinda settled at 12:30 a.m. as a good summer bed time.

The other night his best friend was spending the night. Gabe comes into the room and asks me what time he has to go to bed. I respond "Let's stick with the 12:30 mode." I thought for a moment and said "You know what? It's a sleep over. Let's make it 1:00 a.m."

Gabe looks at me with completely serious 11 year old eyes and says "But what about my increased risk of heart disease?"

WHAT????

I burst into laughter... so hard I was crying. Through my tears I asked, "what are you talking about?"

He said "I saw a news program and they said if you don't get enough sleep it can increase your risk of heart disease."

I said, "Gabe, you're eleven! Don't worry about it!"

We had a great, hearty laugh and he went on to enjoy his sleepover.

The funny things kids say!

How To Annoy Your Wife - Part 1

So, the whole Fox thing has been pretty interesting, weird and cool. And, in typical male fashion I have been able to parlay that experience into an opportunity to annoy my wife.

A little background first... whenever my birthday comes around my wife is very kind and offers me just about anything I want. She'll cook or get me a gift or whatever. She's very selfless.

It occurred to me a few years ago that such kindness should be extended... so I decided to lengthen my "special day" from a single birth day to what I liberally call "my birthday weekend." Depending on what day my birthday falls this "weekend" could be anywhere from three to five days! Going forward, whenever I would ask for something I would use my excessively humble-sounding voice and state my request as part of "my birthday weekend."

"Honey, can you hand me the remote on my birthday weekend?"

"Honey, can you play with my hair on my birthday weekend?

"Honey, I think you should vacuum my car on my birthday weekend."

This annoyed my wife to no end.

And that annoyance made me happy.

I don't know why. It must be genetic. For example, a few years ago my mother and father were at my brother Charles' house. As my parents were about to leave it started to rain slightly. My mother sprinted... okay, she was 80 kabillion years old then, so it wasn't so much a sprint as it was an effective "dash!" Anyway, she dashed to the car. My dad, cane in hand, looks to me under the dry porch roof and smiles saying "Watch this. I'm gonna drive your mother nuts."

And, in what was slow even for him, which was as close to being motionless and yet, scientifically, actually still include motion, my father walked toward the car in the rain. Step by slow, excruciating step.

After a minute, my Mom popped her dampening head out of the car and said "Chizzle! Hurry up!" My father responded with innocent tones with "Oh, I'm coming!" He turned back to me and winked.

At that moment I realized the sick, sad enjoyment I get from frustrating my wife was going to last until I too was 80 kabillion years old. It was inevitable.

Flash forward to this week. The whole Fox News Real American thing has been a trip and, funny enough, it turned out that I was on almost every single one of their promos! All but one, I think. So, realizing this was another annoyance opportunity I came into the living room to my wife and said "Seeing as I'm in almost every promo for Fox, representing real Americans, I think it's fair to say that I speak for all Americans."

She looked at me with a knowing, great suspicion.

"So..." I continued "America wants to know what's for dinner?"

She couldn't help but laugh... however she also knew that was only the first of 80 kabillion times she was going to hear from "America."

Last night, after three solid days of America wanting things, she was really, really annoyed. I said "America is not happy with your attitude. America thinks you should give your husband a kiss."

My wife responded "I wanna punch America in the face!"

And, like my father before me, I felt a small sense of glee inside.

Sick, probably. Sad, absolutely. Yes, it may be many things, but I can tell you this...

America thinks it's funny.

DV Cam Deconstruct

Growing up, my brother Paul was always the wiz kid, the smart one, the one who liked to learn about things by taking them apart. I always thought that was cool, to take something apart to see how it was put together.

So, when my nephew Stephen apparently pulled my DV Camera onto the kitchen floor and making it unable to function correctly, instead of bemoaning the replacement cost, I instead remembered my brother Paul's childhood excursions into taking things apart.

DC and I start the surgery.

Plus, there was a video tape in there from Gabe's All-Stars that I couldn't get out, since the camera would not eject the tape any longer.

DC went out to the garage and pulled out the smallest set of screw drivers she could find, handed down to us from my father-in-law, and started unscrewing the Sony DVCam one itty-bitty screw at a time.

The eventual goal of our dissection.

Do you know how many screws hold together a Sony DVCam? A billion.

Okay, a little under a billion. But, it's about a billion. If you don't believe me, take your own camera apart.

So close, yet so far.

After about 90 minutes of finding, dissecting, unscrewing, pulling apart and bending things that weren't meant to be bent, we finally dislodged the tape from it's once comfortable home.

All Star memories, safe at last.

DC and I learned a lot from the experience, about how the camera is put together, how many small computer components make up a video camera... oh, and how to count to a billion.

The smoldering remains.

Plus, using the leftovers from the flip-out LCD screen, DC made her own, unique, compact mirror using the reflective backside to the original screen.

DC's homemade compact mirror. For a movie
buff, it seems quiet appropriate.

She's so inventive.

Just like my brother Paul.

Our Day in the National Spotlight (Updated)

So, sleep didn't come easy last night. We were all kinda freaked about being on national television on Fox News. We knew our actual time would be short, but instead of comforting us, that made things a little more intense because you have no time to elaborate or to fix it if you misspoke.

Pressure.

So, we got up early and were expected to be picked up around 11:15 a.m. It was funny, because when Dea was on the phone talking with the Fox News producer, Michael, he asked if we wanted a car to pick us up. Dea's response, "Gas at $4 a gallon? You bet!"

We got a call around ten a.m. from Michael telling us that we were being pushed back to 2:40 p.m. and that the driver would pick us up around 1:00 p.m. He would drive us to WEDU in Tampa where we would do our interview remotely.

We also found out, at that time, that they wanted the kids on the show too. So, we prepped them about what to expect and to keep their answers short and positive.

On our way to WEDU.

The driver arrived, a very nice man who also plays the bass for the Florida Symphony, and we headed over to WEDU. After arriving we all had our turn in the make-up chair and we were told we were moving up from 2:40 to 2:20.

Dea looking pretty.

The room got really quiet. We all silently entered freaked out mode. All moisture from my mouth evaporated in an instant and all coherent thoughts dissipated into the ether.

DC getting some make-up applied.

We were rushed into the studio and put into our seats. We were given an ear plug to hear the hosts from Fox and lav mics attached to our shirts. And we waited.

The time was 2:10 and were to be on in ten minutes. We all said a quick prayer, asking the Lord to keep us calm and that we would make Him proud. And we waited.

Gabe and I await our turn
to get made all pretty.

Over our head phones we could hear the broadcast up in New York. The show, Live Desk, is a "breaking news" show, very informal and as action packed as a news show can get. So, while we're waiting there, praying that we weren't going to spontaneously combust on national television and become a you tube viral video, in our ears we kept hearing...

"Breaking news! Parts of LAX have been evacuated! A man claiming to be a terrorist and having a bomb has been arrested!"

"Breaking news! An affidavit has been disclosed showing that it appears a young teen actually assisted the Uncle in luring missing 12 year old Brooke Bennett to set up a rendezvous with Uncle with the intent of having sex."

"Breaking news! Video is now coming in of a Palestinian man who used an earth mover to create havoc and terror in Israel!"

"Breaking news! The divorce of Christie Brinkley is heating up with claims about her husband, a mistress and internet porn!"

And this went on and on and on. The entire time I kept thinking about that poor Bennett family having to deal with the horrendous events unfolding in regards to their missing daughter. How horrid. And how unnecessary our little interview had suddenly become.

We continued to wait, ready to speak, expecting our three minute interview to begin at any moment. We got pushed back to 2:40. Then to 2:50. The show ends at 3:00 p.m., so we thought we may even get bumped. Finally the producer came over the headset and said that we were coming up next and that they didn't have a lot of time left.

We said we understood and promised to keep our answers short.

The funniest thing is that, during the commercial breaks, the audio from Fox goes silent. So, after all of these 'breaking news' events and the promise that we were up next, the next thing we heard was silence.

And it was unnerving. I said "I never thought silence could be so fear inducing!" Everyone laughed and then we heard the promo with our family start.

We all propped up and the interview began. The hostess, Martha MacCallum, began the interview asking Dea (pronouncing her name Day-ah, not Dee-ah... but that's okay) about homeschooling. She then asked me about something about keeping kids positive and I said the first thing that came to my mind. Then she asked DC about home schooling and performing arts high school. DC did her best, trying very hard not to say anything that would offend the home schoolers or the public schoolers.

On the WEDU set. Just before we
were supposed to get on the air.

Martha said a joke about Mom (Dea) apparently not being able to teach performing arts because DC was in school for that and we all had a good laugh.

And then it was over.

Gabe didn't get a question, as was intended, because they just ran out of time.

And that was it. Our moment on national television was over.

We had it on DVR at home. We got a copy from WEDU. And we all got into the car feeling we just made complete arses of ourselves.

As we were driven home, the adrenaline rush finally collapsed and we all sunk into our seats, suddenly exhausted. Cell phones began to ring. Text messages were flooding in. Everyone was excited. We were cautious. We didn't know if people thought we really did well or they just said that because we were their family and friends.

DC gets her name all by herself!

When we got home we plopped the DVD into the player and watched with half-closed eyes, sure we had made complete fools of ourselves.

Fortunately, it turned out we did pretty well, all things considered. It was intimidating and completely surreal, but we all took it as a big adventure.

Who would have thought that a simple vacation to NY would evolve into this promo and this interview. Now, we find ourselves on numerous Fox News promos.

It's all pretty cool. And it will end this weekend, as the entire Real American Stories promo is focused on the fourth of July.

The interview ended on a good note.

So, the entire event has been memorable and exciting. And we're glad and blessed to have been able to speak highly of home schooling on national television. What a great time!

It just goes to show you that you never, ever REALLY know which path your life will take. We enjoyed this little excursion off the main road on the rarely used path of national exposure.

It is something we'll never forget, that's for certain!

We're On National Television... Seriously

As most of you remember, when on vacation in NY we were interviewed by Fox News about America.

The end result is that we are part of their Real American Stories initiative. We're in the intro video on the Introduction page. If you click the My Story link and scroll down a bit, you can watch our entire piece.

It's really pretty cool. You'll also see us in promos on Fox News leading up to July 4th.

What's even cooler is they want to interview us on Fox News live tomorrow afternoon sometime between 1 - 3 p.m.! National television. If I can keep from soiling myself from fear, it should be a pretty cool experience.

I'll either be brilliant or in a fetal position under my chair. Turn in tomorrow to find out which one!

The Bats Take a Holiday as Safety Harbor Loses 4-1

Gabe pitched a complete game and the Safety Harbor defense continued its solid play, but the bats struggled as the team ended their all-star season with a 4-1 loss to Holiday.

The entire Safety Harbor team had little success putting the bat on the ball in all three games this year, including today. The team had multiple opportunities today early in the game with walks to gain an early lead, but failed to get a hit to drive in the potential runs.

Gabe managed to keep the opposition scoreless until the fourth inning when Holiday put all of their runs on the scoreboard by hitting solid drives to the outfield.

Gabe had four at bats, walked twice and got out twice, one on a pop up and another on a solid grounder up the middle played well by the Holiday second baseman. This left Gabe 0-8 and three walks in the entire all star tourney. If you would have told me Gabe would go hitless during the 10-11 all stars, I'd say your were completely insane.

So, I guess that makes you nuts.

Gabe did pitch very well in the two games and played nice defense. It was a good learning experience for him. We worked on the mental approach to the game and Gabe learned a lot about dealing with pressure he puts on himself.

Below are some pics (click to see larger image) from the weekend.

Gabe at the plate..




Gabe on the mound...




Now we're heading into the off season to relax and take some time away from the game for a while.

A special thanks to coaches Bob and Eric for all of their great work with the kids.

Safety Harbor 10-11 All Stars Lose 3-1

In a quick and uninspired game the Safety Harbor 10-11 All Stars lost in a defensive game to Tarpon Springs 3-1. Unfortunately, Safety Harbor did not take advantage of a nice pitching performance by Jonathan Schimmenti.

Gabe made a couple of nice plays at third base, but he's really struggled against the pitching so far... not because it is overpowering, but because it is slower. He's lunging in the batters box and, after tonight, he is now 0-7. Not pretty.

More than likely, because of our great defense we will probably be ranked fourth and should play our next game Saturday at 10 a.m.

Thank goodness this flat game was not the last one we'll have to think about for the entire off season. Whew! Hopefully the next one will be far better.

Safety Harbor 10-11 All Stars Beat Countryside 9-2!

After two rain outs and reschedules the Safety Harbor 10-11 All Stars started the tourney by winning 9-2 over Countryside in a well-played game. The victory was important for a few reasons. First, Countryside beat Safety Harbor in the 10-11 District 12 title game last year and Gabe had been stewing about that since then. Second, our coach, Bob Sauerwine, had never beaten a Countryside team in regular season or post-season play. I don't know how long he's been stewing about that. :)

So, last nights victory was enormously satisfying. Countryside is always well coached, well funded and with really good players. Over the years we've always felt like a Bad News Bears team when playing against them. It was nice to finally win one in an important game against such a great competitor.

Gabe started as our pitcher and pitched a wonderful game. In the first inning, with two outs, he gave up a solo home run, but after that with consistent pitching and a solid defense behind him Safety Harbor only gave up one more run the entire game. He pitched 5 1/3 innings out of 6, the last two outs pitched by Jonathan Schimentti.

On offense, Countryside's starting pitcher was very effective early on. His pitch was not exceptionally fast, but had nice movement with a solid drop as the ball passed over the plate. Later in the game their pitchers struggled with control and walked a few of our players. Using effective bunts and aggressive base running we were able to consistently add to our run total.

On a side note, we were very happy that Dea was able to attend the last half of the game. She flew down from Atlanta and was picked up at the airport by her mom and dad. They immediately drove over and arrived at the top of the fourth inning. That was a nice bonus. After a week away it was nice to see my wife.

We celebrated at a local sports bar that is extremely kid friendly, called Varsity Club. All of the kids from all of the teams usually go there. After the heat of competition, it's always great to see kids being kids, playing video games and pool together with players from the opposing teams. A nice way to end the evening.

Next up we play Tarpon Springs on Thursday.

Christian Film News Talks Up Club God

The fine people over at Christian Film News has published our press release for Club God. They do a nice job of researching the information and presenting it for fellow Christian film fans in a very professional manner.



You can read the entire article at Christian Film News.

At Least the Ecuadorians Get It Right

Over at LifeSiteNews.com, there's a great story about the condemnation of abortion from Ecuadorian Obstetricians and Gynecologists based on science, not religion.

As the story states...

The members of the Federation note that the humanity of the embryo is not a matter of religion, but of medical science.

"Science teaches that human life begins at conception," the declaration states. "If it is also true that it is affirmed by religion, it does not for that reason cease to be a strictly scientific truth, to be transformed into a religious opinion. He who denies that human life begins with conception does not need to contend with religion, but science. To deny this certainty of biology is not to express a lack of faith, but a lack of basic knowledge of human genetics, something that is even known by the general public."

The declaration also corrects a common misconception about the fetus: that it is a "part" of the mother, rather than a distinct human life. "To affirm that the woman can do with her body whatever she wishes, besides being a conceited claim, has absolutely no basis in science: the embryo is not part of the body of the mother, nor is the fetus an internal organ of her body: the DNA of the embryo is distinct from that of its parents," the doctors write.

I think that's going to be my argument going forward. Prove to me, scientifically, that a fetus is not a living creature. Prove to me, scientifically, that a fetus is genetically part of the mother.

You can read the entire article HERE.

I Need a Nap

There are days where having Crohns for 19 years really starts to show itself. My son is in Little League All-Stars and during practices I will pitch 100 or so pitches, run the bases in drills, etc. By the end of the three hour practice, I'm exhausted.

Granted, that may be more due to the fact that I'm older and less athletic than in my youth, but the aches and pains I feel for days afterwards are more a symptom of years of my chronic illness.

Crohns not only effects your intestines, but your joints. And the medicines I had to take for a decade decreased my bone density. To quote Indiana Jones, "It's not the years, honey, it's the mileage." I may be chronologically 42, my body is really a good ten years older than that.

It is very frustrating. And it concerns me as to what sort of life that lays before me. If aggressive activity is problematic now, what will my quality of life be in 10 years or 20?

It's not going to be pretty. And it can be pretty depressing.

I just gotta keep on moving and hopefully my body will be able to keep up.

Club God on You Tube... Finally

After a lot of irritation and inconvenience, I finally got Club God up on You Tube. You can check it out here (Part 1 and Part 2).

That's where the biggest audiences are going, so I hope it gets all the visibility the Lord wants.

I'm Officially Out of the Wedding Video Biz

Poor Merrill. I shot her wedding video in November and she still doesn't have a copy. I put the footage onto my computer a few months ago, but since then its been collecting digital dust.

With church and kids and little league and Sonlight Pictures, oh, yeah, and work, I have almost no free hours left in my day.

I was always the go-to guy in the family for shooting a wedding video. Hec, even did a few for people at work! And I was happy to do it.

But, the work doesn't end on the wedding day, it begins. There is getting the footage into the computer, editing it all together, making a DVD of the ceremony, mailing the DVD, keeping a backup, etc. etc. Not hard things to do, mind you, just very time consuming.

My goal is to get Merrill and Jeff's wedding video done by July 4th. With work and Gabe beginning All-Stars, that could be problematic. At the very latest, I promise to get them a copy before their first anniversary. Pathetic, yes. Reality? Probably.

Sadly, their's will be my last family wedding video. One of my younger nieces or nephews will have to pick up the mantle and carry on the tradition.

For me, it will be a nice, refreshing change to actually sit with my family during the ceremony and soak in the event, instead of worry about framing and audio and lighting and continuity. I can't wait for the next wedding when I can simply squeeze my wife's left hand as another family member starts their married life together.

Then I can turn and wave to the camera.

Club God - Compression Woes Fixed

After more tweaking and Blip.TV I was able to get a VASTLY better version of Club God on the web. Now when people go to ClubGodMovie.com, it is substantially better!

Whew.

Club God - Compression Woes

This whole compressing a high-def short and crunching it down to some web-capable viewing is painful. It’s like taking a painting by Monet and the only way you could share it with the world is to show it on an etch-a-sketch.

But, it is what it is.

What has surprised me, however, is the problem with audio syncing during this process. Both God Tube and Vimeo have audio drag in various sections. Facebook is the closest so far at keeping things accurate, but even it drifts a bit.

Frustrating. But a good learning experience.

Club God - Now Online

From the Sonlight Pictures Blog website...

Okay, I got Club God up at God Tube and Facebook and Vimeo. You Tube is being a pain in my tookis because they won't allow files longer than 10 minutes. Since Club God is 14 minutes long, well, I now have to split it up into two parts and then upload it.

To make things simple, I’ve created a webpage called ClubGodMovie.com. If you go there I will embed the best quality version I can get. I’ll keep playing around with compression and uploading. Right now the winner is Vimeo. I’m not overly happy with it, but I may be able to upload a better quality in the near future.

In any event, we all know how these things work. We need to SPREAD THE WORD.

So, if you like the movie, please go to God Tube and Facebook and Vimeo and rate the film highly so we can get more hits, more interest and more viewers.

Pope John Paul II called all of us to take the media back for Jesus Christ. You can do your small part by getting more people to watch this film. It’s only a mouse click, an email message and/or a rating away.

And, as always, keep us in your prayers! We need ‘em!

Obama Wants Federal Law Mandating Unrestricted Abortions

If he becomes president, candidate Barrack Obama wants to implement a bill he co-sponsored called the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) which would federally mandate unrestricted abortions and override any state's individual laws on the matter. Any state that would not comply with FOCA would be punished.

Now THAT'S freedom, isn't it folks? Ignore the individual wills of the people within the states and force them to do what you want. So Orwellian.

You can read about it here at Lifesite News.

Republicans strongly believe that states should be able to manage themselves. Democrats feel they, at the federal level, know better than state governors, mayors, representatives, senators... oh yeah, and the people!


Obama spews the word "change" so often you'd think he invented it. Granted, a change in Washington would be good. But, what change is he talking about? Change for change sake can be very bad, very dangerous.

What a socialist control freak.

Madulogy

It occurred to me, upon my father's passing this past Christmas, that since I was the last of eight children I will probably be attending all of my siblings' funerals.

This is not going to be easy. And, as the Bauer clan thins, it will more than likely be left up to me to give the Eulogy.

In order to expedite the process and, in typical Bauer humor fashion, I've created a Mad-Lib version of a Eulogy, I like to call Madulogy.

****

It is an honor to be with you all today.

As you know (name) was a (adjective) and (verb) (noun). To me, (he/she) was simply (noun). My first memory of (name) was when (he/she) and I went to the (noun) to (verb) the (noun). We had so many (adjective) (nouns)! What a great (man/woman/person)! I’ll never forget it.

(Name) was perhaps best known for (his/her) ability to (talent). Whenever I found myself in a (noun) with (adverb) (verb) (noun), I would only have to think back to their (talent) and it would make me (verb).

(Name) will be missed. (He/She/It) will be survived by (number) (children/pets/books). Their dedication to (church/club/on-line community) is (adjective) to all of the (noun) with which (he/she) interacted on a (time frame) basis. As a matter of fact, (name's friend's name) came up to me the other day and mentioned that without (name)’s help with the (effort) for the (church/club/on-line community) the (flag pole/park bench/parish center/art gallery/new mailbox) would not have been possible. (Name) was a (noun) among (noun)… a (adjective) (presupposition) (tangent) (exclamation).

All of you here this (time of day) know what I mean.

(Name) is (verb) (adjective) (noun) (planet). Their (noun) is a (verb) (adjective) (liquid) (pronoun) that will (airline) (cousin’s first pet) (astrological symbol) until (time frame) and (mammal) (favorite beverage) (pronoun) (noun) (inseam) (sub-conscious symbolism) is finally (metal beginning with the letter ‘P’) (adjective) (adverb) (verb) (birth weight) (noun).

(He/She) may be gone, but they will never be (shoe size) (verb) (imaginary friend’s uncle’s teacher’s street address).

As (name) used to say to me whenever we (verb)… (verb) you.

Club God Premiere

We had a successful Club God premiere at our house the other night. In all we had about twenty-five people crammed into our small screening room including one of the lead actors, Brian Shea.

Also in attendance, Father Mike came along with the Kelley's and enjoyed the film. The Miller family, the Church family, Tim and his kids, along with DC's friends, Mary and Kelly all squeezed into the house.

Now we have to finish preparing the film for distribution.

Pete holding the first DVD copy of Club God

A fun and successful night. Thanks to all who attended.

Next Up - Purgatory, USA

Now that Club God has exited the post-production phase and is entering the distribution phase, we're hard at work putting together our next project, a six-part Christian web series called Purgatory, USA.

The wacky little comedy is about Nikki, played by DC, who is forced to spend the summer with her exceptionally flaky cousin, Babs, played by Tiffany Ross.

We've already had a read-thru and just recently figured out some of the costumes we'll wear as well as do some behind-the-scenes interviews.

Dorothea and Tiffany

We are scheduled to start shooting in July.

As always, you can follow our progress here.

Michael Clayton (2007)

Michael Clayton doesn't have a lot of explosions or gun play or alien invaders. What it has is an excellent script and an impressive performance by George Clooney as the lead character.

And it's just a really good movie.

Clayton is a "fixer" in a law firm, a lawyer who fixes problems of important clients by whatever semi-legal means necessary. The wear and tear of fixing other people's problems for 15 years is finally catching up to him. He's feeling trapped, lost, and helpless. What was once an intriguing role as "fixer" he now dubs as a "janitor." He no longer really practices law and he's overcome a gambling addiction only to lose all of his money in a restaurant venture he undertook with his sporadic and previously drug-addicted brother. And the money he used to help get the restaurant off the ground was from dubious sources who are now itching for payment.

All of this pressure has built up within him, trapped in a world where neither his professional nor personal life offers any release.

And it's at this precarious moment that he gets his next assignment... to coddle a lead litigator (Tom Wilkinson) who's apparently flipped his lid. This litigator's apparent mental meltdown has put into serious jeopardy a decade long and massive lawsuit protecting a chemical company from paying people to which they may have caused cancer.

Throw in there an ambitious new attorney (Tilda Swinton) hired by the chemical company that will do anything to protect them and things get dicey in a hurry.

How can Clayton, who's barely holding his own life together, bring a brilliant, but unstable litigator under control before the law firm's greatest client, the chemical company, walks away in embarrassment?

That struggle and that pressure are evident on Clooney's face throughout the film. You never know if the very next second on the screen will result in Clayton finally being pushed over the edge. It's a great performance.

The film is directed by Tony Gilroy, who earned his chance behind the camera by penning such hits as the Bourne trilogy, and manages his directing effort with great ease. In his hands, Michael Clayton is successful as a legal movie, a thriller, a drama and a suspense film.

The film is not earth shattering or trend setting, it is simply a really good old-fashioned movie telling an intriguing story with a career best performance by Clooney.

Club God - Finished!

I was finally able to get a missing audience shot required to finish the Sonlight Pictures short comedy called Club God. You can see a still of the finished product below.


So, I have a high-def version completed. It will take a few weeks to get a regular definition version completed and uploaded to various sites like God Tube and You Tube. As always, you can read more about that and other projects over at the Sonlight Pictures Blog.

We Will Miss You Father Mike

There have only been a few priests in my life that have been both friend and counselor, a leader and humble, someone who inspires us to God's lofty standards without forgetting his own human frailty.

Father Michael Morris is one such priest. We have been blessed to have him in our parish for the past three years. As a family, my wife, children and I have shared meals and trips and rallies and private Masses and jokes and the Word of God. He's a passionate man who is willing to speak from the pulpit that which is not easy to hear, but what is necessary to be spoken.

During his time with us at Espiritu Santo Catholic Church he has grown to accumulate an immense following, while, at the same time, growing as both a priest and a man. He never goes anywhere without being dressed in his familiar black clothes with a white collar... in an age where off-the-clock priests and nuns are often not dressed in their religious clothing, I asked him why he remains "old fashioned" and his response was very wise. He said "My collar is my wedding ring. Would you leave your house without your wedding ring? If you do, you are only making yourself available, intentionally or not, to find yourself in situations that could be misinterpreted. When I go out everyone knows that I am married to the church and there is never a misinterpretation of who I am and what I represent."

If only more religious would value holy symbolism as highly as Father Mike does. It can be a very powerful statement.

Father Mike with us after the last Mass
Gabriel and DC will ever serve with him.

Father Mike is blessed with the gift of holy gab. His homilies are impassioned and full of humor, detail, life experiences, but most importantly, truth. His words challenge us and make us reevaluate where we are in our relationship with Jesus. He holds the sacraments to the highest regard, reiterates the saving grace of Confession and treats the Eucharist at every Mass as if he were indeed holding the hand of our Savior.

He instituted the Elijah Cup at three Masses at our church in an attempt to foster religious vocations. He often lead the parish in Eucharistic Adoration, attended Pro-Life rallies and headed a group to the Holy Land. He had personal experiences from his military days with the cultures and religions in the volatile Middle East. He is able to speak multiple languages and would, with amazing ease, translate the original words from which the Bible was written and explain the deeper meanings behind the original authors that has been lost when offered to us in English.

His love of the church, his love of his vocation and his love of orthodoxy was a refreshing and welcomed infusion of spirit into a parish named after the Holy Spirit itself.

After three years with us he has been blessed to be able to combine his two greatest joys... his priesthood and his love of the military. He will be leaving us soon to head over to Germany to be a chaplain.

He will be missed. .. his smile, his humor, his love of family and his endless supply of selfless energy to the parish. They say when you become a priest that you give up your ability to have a family. On the contrary. Father Mike now has an immense family of faithful at Espiritu Santo.

He is an important part of our faith community and extended family. We are happy for his next assignment and will pray that he can influence those men and women in the armed forces with the same gusto, the same commitment and the same love of Jesus that he has afforded us at our parish.

God speed and God bless you, Father Mike. You will always remain with us in our hearts and our prayers.

I'm Old Fashioned...

Okay, I'm going to sound really old fashioned here...

My daughter brought home her high school yearbook and there was a multi-page section in the middle of the book highlighting teen moms with their babies.

When the hell did that become acceptable? When did irresponsible sex out of wedlock by teens resulting in pregnancy end up being something to highlight? Is there nothing worth shaming in our society anymore?

And that brings me to another question... how does a society support a person without supporting their decisions?

The Lord knows my life is littered with the remnants of bad decisions, so I do not speak from any higher moral ground here. Trust me!

Single motherhood, for example, is a tough thing. Thank the Lord the woman chooses to have her baby instead of having an abortion. Seriously, praise God for that!

But, how do you support the woman who is a single mother without condoning societal single motherhood?

Look, I know a lot of single mothers who will overcome their challenges and raise wonderful children. And a lot of them are dealing with the father of their child who is, at best, only a detriment to that child.

But, from a big picture societal standpoint, single parenthood is not something that is statistically healthy.

Studies have shown that children learn how to live in a family by the example of the mother and how to integrate into society through the example of the father. This explains why further studies have shown that 75% of men in prison today were raised without their fathers. It also explains why children who's fathers do not go to church are substantially less likely to go to church as adults.

God designed the family unit to include man and woman, mother and father.

I'm not judging single mothers. Or single parents.

Really.

After all, being a co-parent is hard enough. Being a single one takes super-human strength.

However, I think we could all agree that raising a child without a father is a certainly not preferable. From a societal standpoint, it is very likely damaging.

But, not supporting those in need, especially single mothers, is also blatantly un-Christian.

I don't have any answers... I guess we should hold ourselves up to a higher level of societal responsibility than we do now, but it never seems to turn out that way any more.

So, I'm stuck back at my original question... How does a society help people dealing with the consequences of bad choices without, by doing so, condone those bad choices?

And this problem is not tied to single motherhood alone. That's just the example I'm using now. It applies to any social ill to which the government assists and thereby enables people to continue to make the same bad choices.

Where does compassion cross over to condoning?

From a faith perspective, we believe that God will support us through our bad decisions in the hopes that we will follow his lead to a higher calling, a more holy life. And we also believe that we will be rightly judged for all of our decisions, the good, bad and ugly.

We don't seem to do that in America anymore. We support and then we condone and then we accept and then we expect... and we go un-judged and are not called to a higher standard... instead we lower the bar one bad decision at a time until our society believes everything is acceptable and nothing is worthy of judgment or scrutiny.

It makes me wonder... when I crack open my grandchild's first high school yearbook, what on Earth will I find highlighted there?

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)

This long Memorial Day weekend the family and I took a couple of hours to feast our eyes upon the fourth Indiana Jones installment. And, after a couple of days to digest the latest Spielberg/Lucas offering about oblong Crystal Skulls, I've boiled the film down to one word... silly.

The film is really just plain silly.

Not intriguing. Not trend setting. Not record breaking. Not excellent. Just silly.

I don't want to get too much into the plot, because it will give too much away, but... really? That's the best you could come up with in twenty years? Really? Just how hard did you try?

Rumor has it that Frank Darabont, the excellent writer who penned and directed The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile, as well as wrote various TV episodes of the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, also came up with the first real script for Indy IV. Spielberg apparently loved it, but Lucas did not.

So, Lucas and David Koepp put their brains together and came up with a story that really offers nothing original, unless of course you believe that taking story ideas from a whole bunch of previous movies (Apocalypto, National Treasure 2, Close Encounters, Raiders of the Lost Ark) and mashing them into a new movie constitutes being "original."

What they came up with is... well, silly.

However, even the weakest of story ideas, bolstered by the immense talent of Spielberg and the star power of Harrison Ford, suddenly become enjoyable and alive. Add the acting and screen chops of Cate Blanchett and Shia LaBeouf and the film becomes a nice cinematic ride.

Blanchett's character, however, offers her few opportunities to shine. Now that I think about it, she's supposed to be some sort of Ruskie mega-psychic, but I can't really remember her being successful at ever using those abilities.

Odd choice.

And only LaBeouf's character, Mutt, brings any real emotion to the film. All of the other characters simply move through the set dressings, seemingly unaffected by the amazing events that have transpired around them.

There were some other things that still bother me a bit as well. I don't know if it was due to the quality of the film print I saw or not, but the special effects looked really cheesy. I never once thought anyone was in real danger, especially during an extended car chase scene, because the effects were so obvious... odd for a Spielberg/Lucas collaboration.

And the demise of the baddies was all too familiar. The lead baddie and the lead henchman all meet their maker in events that could have been taken directly from Raiders... granted, the actual demise is different, but the the structure, the way it all unfolds made me feel like I had been here before. And that was because I had... in a far superior movie.

So, in spite of its vastly weak storyline and razor thin character development, the film is still a lot of fun simply because Spielberg, Ford and LaBeouf make it so.


So, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is a fun movie, but you may find that the National Treasure films do a better job in the genre right now.

Spielberg and Lucas have left the door open for LaBeouf to take over the Indy reigns and that would be very, very cool. He's a great young actor and could bring new life into a growing, familiar genre.

Otherwise, you can wait for the next National Treasure release to get your next historical fantasy fix.

Old Vids

I spent Memorial Day going through my computer and storing a lot of files on DVD so I could free up the space for future projects (Messenger Doc, Purgatory USA, etc.). While purging I came across these stills of projects I was in a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...

Pete & Leslie in The Tempest... awful.

In A Common Fate Trailer... unimpressive.

Divorce Court... embarrassing.

Hungry Howies... low point.

With Patrick Wilson in Chase Bank's
Sherlock Holmes Spoof... not bad.

Unfortunately, almost NONE of them are any close to being respectable. Sad, sad, sad. It's amazing what we do as actors starting out... just about anything.

Ugh... some of my past I wish I could delete, like the computer files I purged today.

Little League - Regular Season Ends

As the season came to an end the Cardinals finally started putting things together, winning five of their last six games. The league had a series of games to see who would represent Safety Harbor in the District 12 "Best Team" tournament. The Safety Harbor Yankees took that honor.

The rest of the teams played a season ending runner-up tournament, which the Cardinals won, winning their first game 10-0 in four innings and the championship game 15-4 in four innings. Congrats to the Cards and Coach Gannaway on a great end of the season!

For their troubles each player received a season trophy and the Cards received a runner-up tournament winning trophy. Great job guys!

Gabe got stronger as the end of the season approached. It's been a while since I posted highlights, so I edited the remaining ones together into a pretty hefty file. So, don't even attempt to download this unless you have a broadband connection. Internet Explorer is recommended.

When downloading, as soon as the page brings up the video screen, hit the STOP button (button with a square in it) and wait a while for the file to download. Otherwise it will start and stop as it downloads each small piece at a time.

The entire video file is about 3 minutes. Even in the extremely efficient compressed format of a flash file, its still pretty big. You can watch it HERE.

At the end of the video Gabe will thank you for watching, he mentions coming in 2nd (meaning winning the runner-up tournament) and then getting ready for the All-Stars.

In the video you'll also see Gabe steal second on a walk as well as hitting a line drive back at a pitcher (Christian), striking the pitcher in the face. Fortunately, the injury was minor.

On a side note, one of the qualities I love about Gabe is his compassion. In a critical game he threw a home run pitch to a friend. When he got the ball back he called time out and walked over to the opposing teams dugout and handed the player the home run ball. All of the coaches in the league still talk about that. When he accidentally struck Christian in the face with a hit, he ran over to the pitcher's mound and made sure he was okay. On the rare occasion he hits a batter with a pitch, he walks with the batter down the first base line making sure he's all right.

It's those things that make me more proud of my son than what he does in the batter's box or on the pitcher's mound. I'll take him being a better person than a baseball player any day of the week.

Gabe's really enjoyed everyones guidance and response to his highlights all season long. Thank you for your love and support!